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This may be a little long..sorry in advance.
I'm in the throws of buying a used, 2005 Air Nautique 226 (not a team edition).
It has very low hours, 130's. GREAT condition, but it's been in saltwater. It has the closed loop cooling. The boat is in fantastic condition, except for some visual corrosion. I'll attach some pictures. The biggest thing that concerned me was the visible corrosion from the risers that I saw in the pictures.
I inspected the boat and wasn't overly concerned about the corrosion on the risers. Especially after I read about them needing regular torquing gasket changes.
The boat ran great. Was solid out of the hole, and hit top speeds of 45-46MPH on the speedometer. Started right up, no knocking or ticking, no strange noises. All good.
It had 1 little thing that I noticed when the boat hadn't been running very long. I ran it down the lake to check it's top speed. I saw it getting 45-46 and staying there. As I brought the throttle down about 20%, I noticed what sounded like a quick gasp at the same time the engine hesitated a tiny bit. Again, not major at all and if I wasn't listening intensively, I wouldn't have noticed it. In fact, my friend that was in the back seat didn't even notice. t got it to do it a second time, but couldn't get it to do it again.
I gave them a deposit on the boat, then asked them to do the annual service on the boat and while in there, run the diagnostic, print it out and check compression. I have the print out, but can't make heads or tails out of it. I'm happy to send it to someone that can. They indicated on the service ticket that all cylinders compression checked out at 150lbs. They suggested that we closely monitor the risers, as they torqued them to spec and at the shop, showed no or minimal signs of leaking.
I asked them to water test the boat before delivering it and they did so with a mechanic. The mechanic said that at high speeds / RPM, the risers were leaking. They said they wanted to bring it back to the shop and replace the gaskets. After taking them apart, they called me back and said that they needed to be replaced along with the exhaust manifolds.
I realize that in salt environments, the risers should be replaced every 3-4 years (from what I've read), and exhaust manifolds should be checked with each riser replacement.
I understand that if the walls of the riser have corroded away to the point of water intruding into the exhaust, water can get into the cylinder. Is that the case with a closed loop cooling system? I know raw water goes to the risers, but what about the manifolds?
I understand that in extreme issues, water can back into the cylinder when the engine is off, then when cranking the engine, a rod could bend, or other massive issues.
So, should I be concerned? If the boat ran great, revved out, hit top speed, pulled hard out of the hole, made no noises other than the slight gasping, am I safe to assume that if water DID get into the engine, it wasn't to the point of bending a rod or other?
Assuming that they do the correct work in the riser and manifold replacement (they ARE a Nautique dealer), and that the engine checked out prior to the repair, that everything is good?
Could that air gasp that I heard have been from the riser leak? Seems to make sense, no?
I COMPLETELY understand that salt is bad. There will be some corrosion work I'll have to do on the boat should I still buy it. I live on a freshwater lake and will never have in saltwater again. I realize that the current salt damage will continue if I don't treat it. I fully expect to treat any issues that are there.
Know this logic in my head.... the boat is in amazing shape for a 2005. I'm buying it below market. I have priced a complete ZR6 crate engine from PCM. Even if I bought one brand new with no deal, paid the labor to have it installed, I'm STILL ahead of the market price on this boat.
So....
If it were you, would you feel comfortable enough to still buy the boat?
Of course I will ask them to test the boat on the lake again, and I will do it myself upon delivery. If it checks out and runs as strong as it did before the manifold and riser replacement, I think I'm buying it.
Thoughts?
Check the pics.
If there is anyone that can read the diagnostic printout, let me know and I'll email it.
Mike
I'm in the throws of buying a used, 2005 Air Nautique 226 (not a team edition).
It has very low hours, 130's. GREAT condition, but it's been in saltwater. It has the closed loop cooling. The boat is in fantastic condition, except for some visual corrosion. I'll attach some pictures. The biggest thing that concerned me was the visible corrosion from the risers that I saw in the pictures.
I inspected the boat and wasn't overly concerned about the corrosion on the risers. Especially after I read about them needing regular torquing gasket changes.
The boat ran great. Was solid out of the hole, and hit top speeds of 45-46MPH on the speedometer. Started right up, no knocking or ticking, no strange noises. All good.
It had 1 little thing that I noticed when the boat hadn't been running very long. I ran it down the lake to check it's top speed. I saw it getting 45-46 and staying there. As I brought the throttle down about 20%, I noticed what sounded like a quick gasp at the same time the engine hesitated a tiny bit. Again, not major at all and if I wasn't listening intensively, I wouldn't have noticed it. In fact, my friend that was in the back seat didn't even notice. t got it to do it a second time, but couldn't get it to do it again.
I gave them a deposit on the boat, then asked them to do the annual service on the boat and while in there, run the diagnostic, print it out and check compression. I have the print out, but can't make heads or tails out of it. I'm happy to send it to someone that can. They indicated on the service ticket that all cylinders compression checked out at 150lbs. They suggested that we closely monitor the risers, as they torqued them to spec and at the shop, showed no or minimal signs of leaking.
I asked them to water test the boat before delivering it and they did so with a mechanic. The mechanic said that at high speeds / RPM, the risers were leaking. They said they wanted to bring it back to the shop and replace the gaskets. After taking them apart, they called me back and said that they needed to be replaced along with the exhaust manifolds.
I realize that in salt environments, the risers should be replaced every 3-4 years (from what I've read), and exhaust manifolds should be checked with each riser replacement.
I understand that if the walls of the riser have corroded away to the point of water intruding into the exhaust, water can get into the cylinder. Is that the case with a closed loop cooling system? I know raw water goes to the risers, but what about the manifolds?
I understand that in extreme issues, water can back into the cylinder when the engine is off, then when cranking the engine, a rod could bend, or other massive issues.
So, should I be concerned? If the boat ran great, revved out, hit top speed, pulled hard out of the hole, made no noises other than the slight gasping, am I safe to assume that if water DID get into the engine, it wasn't to the point of bending a rod or other?
Assuming that they do the correct work in the riser and manifold replacement (they ARE a Nautique dealer), and that the engine checked out prior to the repair, that everything is good?
Could that air gasp that I heard have been from the riser leak? Seems to make sense, no?
I COMPLETELY understand that salt is bad. There will be some corrosion work I'll have to do on the boat should I still buy it. I live on a freshwater lake and will never have in saltwater again. I realize that the current salt damage will continue if I don't treat it. I fully expect to treat any issues that are there.
Know this logic in my head.... the boat is in amazing shape for a 2005. I'm buying it below market. I have priced a complete ZR6 crate engine from PCM. Even if I bought one brand new with no deal, paid the labor to have it installed, I'm STILL ahead of the market price on this boat.
So....
If it were you, would you feel comfortable enough to still buy the boat?
Of course I will ask them to test the boat on the lake again, and I will do it myself upon delivery. If it checks out and runs as strong as it did before the manifold and riser replacement, I think I'm buying it.
Thoughts?
Check the pics.
If there is anyone that can read the diagnostic printout, let me know and I'll email it.
Mike
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